


No Emotions, Just Sex...Is It Possible?

by Not_All_Heroes_Wear_Capes



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Past Relationship(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-28
Updated: 2017-05-28
Packaged: 2018-11-05 21:05:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 21,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11021598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Not_All_Heroes_Wear_Capes/pseuds/Not_All_Heroes_Wear_Capes
Summary: Niall moves from Ireland to London after meeting Zayn, who has been sent to meet Niall and convince him to take a job at a well-known music magazine in London after he applied, not expecting to be chosen for the job and after a great pitch from Zayn he says yes without a second thought. He immediately moves to London and starts the new job, in which he meets a few people who end up making everything better when he gets homesick. Zayn and Niall end up becoming quite close and end up becoming attracted to each other, but because both are unlucky in love they don’t act on those feelings and instead of trying a romantic relationship Zayn suggests an idea in which Niall finds himself agreeing to. Niall and Zayn find themselves starting a no emotion, just sex relationship.Can they keep it strictly physical or will they find themselves wanting more than that?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by the movie 'Friends With Benefits'
> 
> Most of the story is in Niall's POV unless stated.

It’s been a few months since I applied for the job in London at my boss’s insistence, and after everything that was happening with me, I decided to apply to make my boss happy but little did I know I would be chosen as one of the two candidates for the position. I remember the day I got the call, it was the day my life went to shit,

***

_How can he do this to me? He knows how much I hate being stood up! I’ve already left him a few messages and used some language I care not to repeat. The concert starts in 5 minutes and he hasn’t even left a message to say he’s going to be late, this is typical of him. I’m getting rather impatient standing outside in the cold like an idiot and people are staring!_

_“Hey babe!”_

_There he is, finally! I couldn’t care about anything else but getting inside,_

_“Finally! Let’s go in, we’re already late…Kyle?”_

_When I turn around I’m met with the sight of Kyle standing there with his hands in his pockets, looking at me, a foreign look on his face,_

_“What’s going on? Kyle, let’s go in!”_

_“I-uh, look Niall, can we talk? It’s important”_

_“Uh, sure…what’s up?”_

_“Uh well, these past 10 months have been great, really…but I-I’ve been thinking for the last week and I think we need to take a break”_

_What? Is he being serious, couldn’t he have waited and told me earlier before I begged my boss to let me go home early…_

_“What the hell Kyle!? Why are you doing this now, could you have waited till later? Or maybe you could have done this some other time!”_

_“I didn’t know how too! I was going to do it a week ago but your mum invited me to your second cousins wedding! I didn’t want to break up with you at a wedding! Niall, look at me, please?”_

_“Why did you tell me you loved me last week at the wedding then if you were going to break up with me a week later!?”_

_“When did I tell you I loved you at the wedding, I don’t remember that”_

_“Seriously? You told me you loved me when we were having sex!”_

_People are giving the both of us strange looks, it’s very embarrassing,_

_“I did? It was probably in the heat of the moment”_

_“You know what Kyle? Fuck you!” I rip the tickets up and throw them in his face before stomping off. I hear Kyle call my name but all I do is turn around and give him the finger before walking down the street back to my apartment. He is such an asshole! Why did I fall in love with him?_

_My phone rings in my pocket, if it’s Kyle I don’t know what I would say when I answer, I pull it out and it’s from an unknown number, usually I wouldn’t answer those types of calls but I do,_

_“Hello?”_

_***_

When they called a few months ago, I was unsure of taking the job so they said that they would pay for me to fly to London to meet with a head-hunter, who would try and convince me to accept the job. Right now, I’m getting off the flight and waiting to see who they sent to try and convince me to take the job.

Once I grab my bags I check my phone and look at the time hoping that I’m not too early. I look around and I can see someone rushing through the crowd, pushing when people got in his way. He looks stressed out and I can’t help but feel sorry for him, I see him grab a piece of paper out of his pocket and ask the lady next to him, who’s applying makeup. She gives him her lipstick and he writes on that piece of paper and holds it up.

I can only read what it says but I can kind of make it out, so I strain my eyes and read it again, reading my name. This must be the guy I’m supposed to be meeting, I get a good look at him and I have to say he’s not who I was expecting to greet me.

I raise my hand and he approaches me, smiling.

“You Niall?”

“Yeah”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Zayn. I’m the person they sent to show you around and convince you to take the job”

“Not to be rude but aren’t you a little young to be doing this stuff?”

“It’s fine but I could say the same about you” he winks at me and I find myself blushing, “You ready? Want me to take your bag?”

“It’s fine thanks though”

I follow him through the busy crowd, I find myself looking at the back of his head and every time he turns around I look down at the ground in the hope he doesn’t keep looking at me and when he smiles at me, I smile back and I swear I could see him faintly blush.

~~~~~

*Zayn POV*

My alarm goes off on my bedside table, I don’t even remember setting it last night but then again I was so tired after sorting out details with my boss for this afternoon when I have to meet someone for that magazine job… I open my eyes and sit up fast looking at the calendar on the wall in front of me,

“Shit!”

I’m late for that meeting, I quickly wt my hair down and slip my jeans and shoes on before rushing out the door not bothering putting on the shirt I grabbed, deciding on changing in the taxi. I pull my phone out of my pocket and memorise the information my boss sent me, I jump in the taxi,

“Hey, London Heathrow please!? I will pay you 30 pounds more than the metre says if you get me there in 10 minutes”

“Sure mate…you in a rush somewhere?”

“Yeah, I am, uh could you keep your eyes on the road as I get changed?”

“Oh yeah, no problem”

I quickly call my boss to make sure I’ve got the right information,

_“Zayn, how is everything?”_

“Uh good thanks, Steve. I was calling to make sure the name and description you gave me was right?”

_“Didn’t you get the photo him?”_

“No I didn’t, was I supposed to”

_“I must not have attached the photo in the email, sorry”_

“Ah its fine”

_“Great, his name is Niall Horan and he should be pretty easy to find…he’s got blonde hair, blue eyes and that’s all really.”_

“That didn’t really help, but I’ll find him.”

_“That’s good, was there anything else you wanted?”_

“No all good, thanks Steve”

_“Good luck mate, would be good if you could get him to say yes, he’d be a great addition to the magazine”_

“Thanks, will let you know what happens”

Steve hangs up on me as we pull up to the airport, I grab the correct amount and add 30 pounds more as I get out and quickly place it in his hand before rushing into the airport. There is too many people here, most of them getting in the way, I’m already a few minutes late and I don’t want to any later. I approach the gate and look around but can’t see anyone.

Luckily, I had a piece of paper in my back pocket, but no pen. I can see the woman next to me applying makeup, so I politely ask for it and write the name down, holding it up in the air. I look directly in front of me and see Niall, at least that’s who I think it is, raise his hand. I get a good look at him and he is not what I expected, I expected a man in his mid-30’s wearing a suit.

I put my hand out for him to shake and he does too,

“You Niall?”

“Yeah”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Zayn. I’m the person they sent to show you around and convince you to take the job”

“Not to be rude but aren’t you a little young to be doing this stuff?”

“It’s fine but I could say the same about you” I throw him a wink at me and he blushes, which I will admit is cute “You ready? Want me to take your bag?”

“It’s fine thanks though”

I start to weave my way through the crowd, looking back every few seconds just in case I lose him and every time I look back I can see him looking at me and then looking down when he notices me watching him, it really is cute. I smile and he smiles back, my face getting hot when he does.


	2. Chapter 2

Once we get out the cab, we end up in the middle of London, I turn to Zayn and smile,

“You’re the tour guide…where to first?”

“Well, we need to stop off at the magazine first, you have your interview in about 5 minutes, don’t worry if your late okay? Tell them it was my fault, they will definitely understand, I know one of the editors of the magazine”

“Ah okay…so I will see you when I get out? Or do you have to go somewhere else?”

“No, I’m free the rest of the day. Go in there and ace that interview okay?”

“Thanks Zayn, really…but I don’t really want the job if I’m being honest”

“Why?”

“I only applied for the job because of my boss…he told me that it was a good opportunity for me.”

“Well, it doesn’t matter in the end. Just go in there and kill it. I’ll be over the road in the café when you’re done, will give me a chance to use their free Wi-Fi and maybe get some work done”

“Thanks Zayn, see you later”

I wave and walk into the building, the look on Zayn’s face is imprinted in my mind.

~~~~~

In my opinion I nailed the interview but I’m still not sure if I want it, I walk over to the café and I see Zayn sitting outside,

“Hey mate”

“Ah Niall, how did it go?”

“It went good, I’m pretty sure I nailed it”

“That’s it, I knew you would”

“Yeah, but I don’t think I’m going to take it”

“Why? You have too! Here look at this…”

He pulls out his phone and shows me the email they sent, my mouth hangs open when I see what the emails about,

“What?”

“yeah, that’s right. That, is your offer…they sent it about 10 minutes ago. Niall, they want you to work for them!”

“Shit, uh…”

“Oh come on!”

“Look, I don’t know okay? Don’t know if I want to take it…”

“You know what? You don’t have to make a decision right now, they’ve given you 24 hours to decide”

“Zayn, do you understand that it’s a big move? Answer me this, would you move your life for a job? It’s too big of a move to make!”

“Niall, I was like you…I didn’t want the job I have but I thought why not? What have I got to lose? Then I realised, I’ve got nothing to lose so I took the job and moved to London, it meant leaving my family behind but I knew it was going to be worth it in the end. Niall, I’ve been here since I was 21 and I’ve loved it ever since, I know you will too…”

“But…”

“No! How about I see if I can change your mind, follow me”

He walks off quickly and I jog to catch up, he turns back around and smiles. He probably thinks that going to make me change my mind,

“Had you ever been to London before today?”

“I have but only once…I was probably 5 or 6, so a long time ago...”

“That’s fine, first stop on our tour is the London Underground. Now I know what you’re thinking, ‘Why are you showing me this?’ well Niall, I’m only supposed to show you places that may make you think twice about saying no to this opportunity”

“I wasn’t thinking that, but okay. Lead the way”

I laugh when Zayn gives me a look as if to say ‘weirdo’. I smile at the thought of that and I probably look like a mental patient but I don’t really care.

“So, you’re probably going to hate London after this actually and you’ll probably never want to take the job but you have to at least take the Underground once or twice if you do take the job”

“I can’t promise I’ll take the job…maybe you’ll have to really convince me”

“Well, the London Underground will”

I know he’s teasing me and to be honest I kind of like it, usually when people tease it’s annoying but with Zayn it’s not. I follow him and hope I don’t lose him as we approach the Underground.

~~~~~

Zayn was right, I did hate the Underground. I’m not good with small spaces but Zayn being there with me helped me take my mind off everything, and everything we did afterwards helped me forget about the hell they call the London Underground. It was interesting, seeing Big Ben, The London Bridge and the Sky Gardens, it really is nice in London I must admit,

The bar we went to was nice, we discussed everything in more detail, even seen a few celebrities, turns out Zayn’s worked with a few of them as well,

“How the hell do you know all these celebrities?”

“Our company works with a lot of celebrities, I just helped Little Mix out with something a couple of weeks ago, nice girls, really talented”

He smiles and finishes his drink, I do the same and we head out,

“So…where to next?”

“If you just follow me, I’ll take you to a place that isn’t on the itinerary for today”

“You’re not going to murder me, are you?”

“Ah you got me! you’ve ruined my plans…I’m kidding”

“I know, was just making sure”

“No, it’s somewhere away from everything and everyone…come on”

He waves his hand and motions for me to follow him, I check my surrounding in case he does decide to kill me. We round the corner and come to the front of a building which looks where all the posh rich people live, he grabs my hand and pulls me with him and we end up at the back of the building.

“It’s just in here”

 “Are we even allowed here?”

“Not really, but if anyone asks we live here…come on lets go”

We sneak in the back door, and he leads me up to the roof, the view is breathtaking. Looking at all the lights, just watching the lights of the cars flash past. It’s cold up here but I don’t really care, I’m more focussed of the view,

“Zayn, this is beautiful…how did you find this place?”

“My old boss used to live here…before he died. I used to come up here whenever he had one of his parties for potential clients and it got too much…I’ve been coming up here since then”

“Oh I’m sorry about your old boss”

“Ah it’s fine, didn’t really like him…anyway, what do you think?”

“It’s nice, really it is” he pulls out a pack of cigarettes and hold them out for me,

“That’s good, come here and sit down…you smoke?”

“No, but you can do it in front of me, its fine”

“So, quick question…how does your family feel about you taking the job? I bet their proud of you…”

“Yeah they are…they told me to go for it, told me that I should go with my gut. I think my dad was the most proud, he’s always said that if I put my mind to it I could get out of Ireland and make a name for myself…” I start to get a little bit teary eyed, “Sorry…”

“Hey, it’s fine, you dad sounds like a great man…wat does your boyfriend think about the job?”

“Ah, I don’t have one anymore…that’s one of the reasons why I applied for the job.”

“Ah, that sucks”

“Oh it’s fine. Hey, do you always do this with your clients or am I the only one?”

“Nope, you’re the only one”

My cheeks feel warm, Zayn stands up,

“Come on, I want you to follow me, we need to go to one more place”

I smile as I grab his hand

~~~~~

We end up in Piccadilly Circus and the atmosphere is really nice, before he can say anything I beat him to it,

“Zayn! I’m going to do it! I’m taking the job, you’re right, London is great! I’m going to move here”

“Oh my god! Yes, okay…”

I pull him in for a hug, holding on a little bit longer than I usually do smiling as I pull away,

“Shit! My flight leaves soon!”

“Oh shit, okay…lets get a cab and get you to the airport…”

“Okay”

I get on that plane with a smile on my face, ready to call my family with the news.


	3. Chapter 3

Once I got back home, the first thing I was met with was my family attacking me with hugs and congratulations, my mum ended up crying which isn’t unusual for her. Over the next week, I spend every moment I can with my family cause I never know when I’m going to see them in person again, on my last day everybody gathered in the pub for a proper send off. I was quite emotional that night but I knew it was going to happen, I was worse the next day when everybody saw me off at the airport. I wouldn’t stop crying and neither would my mum, even my dad shed a little tear which he never does much. I got on that plane and felt sad but also happy because I did what my dad said I could do…get out of Ireland and make a name for myself.

Zayn couldn’t greet me at the airport but he did however leave me a welcome to London gift on the kitchen side in my new place. It’s way too nice for me but seeing as it came fully furnished, I couldn’t complain too much. I start the new job tomorrow and I’m shitting myself to be honest, I don’t know if I can do it. I spend most of the night awake, too nervous to sleep.

I check my Facebook before finally drifting off to sleep.

~~~~~

My alarm goes off next to me, it’s way too early for me to be up but I have to, this new job starts at 8 instead of 9:30 like my old job. I stretch and roll out of bed before getting in the shower, getting dressed quite slowly and rushing to eat breakfast. It looks like Liam thought to do the same as me, both of us locking our doors in a rush.

Liam and I met the day I moved in, he also works at the magazine, he’s the other new hire and coincidentally lives on the same floor as me, which is good because I have someone to lead the way if I get lost on the way to work,

“Hey mate, you ready?”

“Yeah, I guess. Bit nervous…”

“We’ll be fine hopefully”

Work only takes 25 minutes to get to on the Underground which is good but also bad. It’s always busy at 7:30 in the morning which does nothing for my claustrophobia, but I must power through it. We make it 5 minutes early but that’s fine because most people are there already, the boss greets us and introduces us before we have to get to work.

Lucky for me Liam sits across from me so if I get bored I have someone to talk to, on the other side of me is Sammie, who writes about and interviews people in the pop music community.

“Niall, right?” I look up and see someone I hadn’t seen earlier, “I’m Louis, nice to meet you.”

“Yeah, you too…what do you do around here?”

“I’m the writer that covers the rock artists, you know pop-rock, punk-rock, classic rock and sometimes alternative music and others in that community and interviews them also, and if I’m not wrong you and I will be working together?”

“I’ve read your work, it’s really good stuff. I liked that interview you did with All Time Low, you really know how to get people to give you some great answers. I’m glad to be working with you Louis”

“Likewise mate…so, what brings you to London and this magazine?”

“Oh, I got a good recommendation from my old boss back in Ireland. He told me to apply for the job and I thought why not, I didn’t really think I would get it but I did so...”

“That’s great mate! We’re you tracked down and persuaded to work for us?”

“Yeah I was”

“I was going to ask if it worked but it obviously did…so what did you family think about the big move? Were they happy or angry you decided to move?”

“They were surprisingly happy, they weren’t sure of me moving to London but they knew it was something I wanted to do”

“At least they support you, what about your girlfriend?”

“Uh boyfriend and no, w-we broke up a few months before I moved but I doubt that he’d care. What about you?”

“My ex and I split a year ago now, he said he couldn’t do it anymore, didn’t like the fact that I was here in London and he thought I would be sleeping around behind his back so he dumped me…I’m fine now but it hurt. You’re have a great time working here with us. Hey, I’ll talk to you later yeah…”

“Sure, again it was nice to meet you”

My phone buzzes with a message,

_‘Hey, it’s Zayn! Got your number from your file. Hope you’re finding your job okay, talk to you soon!’_

I smile and get to work.

Ten minutes later someone knocks on my desk, looking up its Zayn. I didn’t even know he was allowed to pop by and see me,

“Hey Zayn. What brings you here?”

“Just here to drop off the contract, sign it and I will be out of your hair. Will let you go back to work, just got to give Liam his and everything is done”

I read the first page and my eyes widen when I look at what I’m getting paid,

“Shit! That’s a lot of money!”

“I know it’s a little bit more than the original price but it’s still great…that’s the yearly figure though, not sure about the weekly pay rate is”

“It doesn’t matter, that’s a lot of money”

Louis speaks up from in front of me, “I told you, you’d like working here!”

Zayn looks confused at what just happened but shakes his head at Louis. He smiles before watching me sign the contract, taking it off my hands.

“It was nice doing business with you Niall Horan. Enjoy your time here and I hope to see you again soon”

He gets ready to walk off but I stop him from leaving, wanting his opinion on something,

“Hey, did you want to go and get lunch with me?”

He smirks at me, causing me to blush once again,

“Are you asking me out? Cause if you are I can already tell you that it’s not going to work out between us. You and I will go and get something to eat and then we’ll go back to my place and we’ll sleep together and you’ll leave, it would be awkward after that and sooner or later I’ll start having feelings for you but you won’t feel the same and it would be embarrassing for me and…”

“Zayn! Shut up, I wasn’t asking you out on a date! I don’t even know you that well!”

“Wow, okay. you didn’t have to be so horrible about it…”

“Zayn, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it! Please don’t cry”

I look over at Louis and Liam who are both standing there with their mouths open and looking really uncomfortable, Zayn starts laughing and stands up straight,

“Oh my god! You should have seen your face, it was priceless. I’m kidding Niall, I would like to go and get some lunch with you”

“You asshole! I thought you were actually crying, you made me feel bad”

“Come on, let’s go. I’ll show you my favourite place to go for lunch”

Out the corner of my eye I can see Louis and Liam laughing at me, I glare at them as I grab my jacket from the back of my chair.

~~~~~

Zayn ends up taking me to a small café a couple of blocks away from work, it’s nice and cozy. We sit in a booth up the back where it’s a little bit quieter and order our food the start talking abut our families,

“So, what’s your family like? You’ve heard what mine are like, lets hear about yours…that’s if you want to talk about it”

“It’s fine, I love my family, they mean the world to me. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for them. I have 3 sisters, my parents are still together and they live back in Bradford. I adore my sisters, I love my parents and I know it’s cheesy and sad to say but my mum’s my best friend, my dad too.”

“That’s sweet and it’s not cheesy or sad that your mum and dad are your best friends. I can say the same for me and my parents, we’re very close. They would actually love to meet you, you know, so they could say thank you for convincing me to stay and take the job”

Zayn’s phone buzzes, the name Chris flashes on the screen,

“That your boss?”

“No, ex-boyfriend. When we broke up he said that he still wanted to be friends” I gag, “He also thought he could be the one to change me, he said the could make emotionally available” I can’t help but laugh at that,

“Ah don’t worry, I’m emotionally damaged and have been for years, I thought my ex could change it but he didn’t, he kind of made it worse”

“After my ex and I broke up I decided to stop wasting my time on guys that could never actually like me for me, I’ve sworn off men”

“Me too, my ex was the biggest asshole, he just led me on and didn’t even really apologise for it”

Screw him! sorry he did that to you”

“Ah its fine, I realised is shouldn’t think about it too much”

“Preach!”

We have a little laugh at our sad love lives, when Zayn’s phone rings again, I decide to pick it up,

“This is Zayn Malik’s phone, who is this?”

He hung up on me,

“Well that was fun, he just hung up on me!”

Zayn shakes his head and laughs,

“he probably thought we were sleeping together or something cause no man ever answers my phones, especially at work…come on, let’s get you back to work before you get in trouble on your first day”

I smile and throw my napkin on the table before following Zayn out the door, both of us going in different directions once we get to work. Zayn promises to call me later to see how the rest of the day went. I head back inside and upstairs and I’m greeted by Louis,

“How was lunch?”

“Alright actually, what needs to be done next?”

“we’re needed in the head editors office”

“Be there in a second”

I drop my stuff down at my desk and catch up to Louis, who’s already in the office and has sat down. My phone vibrates in my pocket, the editor, Kelly motions for me to look at it, I smile when I see who it’s from,

_‘Hey mate, lunch was nice, should do it again one day. Was just texting to let you know I’m throwing a little party with some friends, you should stop by. Text you later, Z’_

I put the phone back in my pocket and pay attention to what Kelly is saying.


	4. Chapter 4

A few days later the night of Zayn’s party rolls around, it’s the first time I’m seeing Zayn for who he really is and not the guy he is when he’s being all professional, I knock on the door and Zayn opens it looking quite hot if I’m being honest,

“Hey Niall, you made it!”

He pulls me in for a hug before letting go and handing me a beer, I take the beer as he starts to introduce me to his friends, all of them very welcoming after he told them that I was the reason he had a party and I was the guy that made him enough money to buy expensive beer.

“So, this is my place…its probably not as nice as yours though, am I right?”

“Nah, this place is way better than mine, yours has a better view for a start…”

“Ah, don’t be modest…anyway we were just in the middle of a game of whatever it is, did you want to join in with us? You don’t have too”

“I’ll watch for now, but you go and play. I can sit on the sidelines and watch you lose”

“Don’t say that, I never lose! I always win!”

A friend of Zayn’s speaks up from behind us,

“No you don’t mate, you never win!”

“Ah shut up Dave…oh that’s Dave, he’s an asshole. Don’t talk to him” Zayn puts the finger up and Dave which causes me to laugh, I’ve never seen him do that before. I follow him onto the balcony as he joins the game, I sit down and observe from the sidelines when one of Zayn’s friends starts up a conversation with me. we talk for a little bit before Zayn comes over and tells me that he wants to talk.

By talk he means he’s going to hand me drink after drink until I’m drunk enough as him, it isn’t before long that I fall backwards onto the couch and close my eyes drifting off to sleep. I hear giggles around me but I’m falling into a deep sleep so I ignore them, I do find my face becoming itchy as something is gently making shapes on my face.

~~~~~

The next day I feel like shit as I drag myself out of bed and into the shower, I take forever in there so I have to rush to get my things sorted for work, I quickly open and close the front door before locking it, colliding with Liam.

“whoa mate, you look like shit” Liam looks at my face and starts laughing, confusing me.

“I feel it…what?”

“Oh…nothing, just laughing at how bad you look. Come on, let’s go to work”

I drag my feet and follow Liam, who ends up holding me up on the way to work, dropping me in my chair when we get inside. Everybody in the office is looking at me and snickering, I have no idea why but it’s probably because I look like shit so I choose to ignore it.

The whole morning goes slow and by the time lunch rolls around I feel like I’m going to fall asleep anytime soon, I have to keep going though cause Kelly wants a draft of my article on her desk by 3:00pm. I spend the rest of the afternoon slowly writing the rest of the article, I can’t do it though, after spending too much time looking at the bright laptop screen I shut it down for a bit and that’s when I see it,

There’s a faint black line where somebody drew a moustache and I can see black circles around my eyes. I now realise that’s the reason why people were looking at me, I’m not even that angry at that, I do have a pretty good idea who did it,

I take a photo and send it to Zayn,

_‘Fuck you! I hate you!’_

Zayn replies a few minutes later,

_‘You love me’_

And then another one straight afterwards,

_‘You look great, you should grow one of these!’_

I reply with the middle finger emoji, that should shut him up…hopefully.

It didn’t though…


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning this month’s issue went out with mine and Louis story as one of the main stories, and I couldn’t be any more excited. I’ve told my family and friends about it and they promised to by a copy, mum said she would frame her copy and hang it on the wall. Louis been bouncing up and down with excitement all morning and eventually calms down when he started writing his article with Liam.

Around lunchtime I receive a text from Zayn with a photo of him holding it up attached, smiling as I open it

_‘Saw this in the shops! Well done rockstar!’_

I reply back quickly,

_‘Thanks mate!’_

Another txt from Zayn comes through about 15 minutes later,

_‘Are you glad you accepted the job now?’_

I don’t reply back but I think, yeah, I am glad I took this job and that makes me smile.

~~~~~

To celebrate my first ever article coming out, Louis suggested I throw a party and that’s what I did. Zayn shows up at 8:45 with a huge smile on his face bounding over to me and pulling me in for a hug before giving me a gift,

“Here you go mate! Congratulations!”

I pull the gift out of the bag to find the magazine article in a frame, and he’s also bought me a vinyl of The Beatles, that’s actually really nice of him,

“You didn’t have to do this mate, but thank you so much. I’ll be right back, I’ll put it in my room and then I’ll get you a drink.

Once safely put away I walk back out to see Zayn looking at the vinyl records I’ve placed on my wall, he’s looking at the Pink Floyd vinyl when I approach him,

“That’s my favourite one…the Pink Floyd one, would listen to it non-stop when my dad bought it for me all those years ago, when I first discovered I wanted to do something with music after school”

“I’m the same, my friend actually introduced me to them when I was about 14 and since then…”

For the rest of the night Zayn and I stand around drinking and talking about music, at 11:00 Zayn falls asleep on the sofa, so I decide to get my revenge by drawing something on his face with a marker, courtesy of Louis. I go with something simple but something that will embarrass him when he looks in the mirror tomorrow morning.

I should feel bad for doing it but he deserved it for what he did to me a few nights ago, I’m going to be sitting around waiting for a text from Zayn about how much he hates me and I’m looking forward to it!

Around about 2:00pm the next day, that text comes in and I can’t help but laugh,

_‘You are so lucky your adorable otherwise you’d be dead!’_

Another text comes through and I reply with a thumb up emoji _._

~~~~~

*ZAYN POV*

These past couple of weeks with Niall have been quite fun, he’s the type of person I would usually avoid but I feel as if we’re getting closer every day. He’s been getting on at his job really well and I’m so glad he said yes to the job, I don’t know what it would be like if he wasn’t here in London.

Usually I’m not allowed to get close to people I seek out to help them make a decision for their careers, but with Niall I’ve made an exception. Last night was really fun, I’ve never been able to open up to people as much as I have with Niall. I don’t usually go to other people’s parties but last night was different, it might be because I can see myself becoming really great friends with the Irish lad.

Waking up with a headache is not how I wanted to start the day which is filled up with meetings for potential clients, I’m going to need a lot of aspirin to get me through it all.

When it’s time for my 6th meeting of the day, I feel a little bit better but not as much I thought I would. I’ve got to meet with some businessmen in a few minutes and I don’t think I can go through with it. I’m halfway through the meeting when my face starts to feel really itchy especially around my nose and on my chin, I step out the way before I itch my face and that is when I realise why it’s so itchy,

Niall bloody drew on my face! The bastard!

I quickly grab a tissue to try and wipe the glow in the dark marker off my face but it doesn’t work, my face is still pink. Lucky for me I turn the light on before anybody can see my bright pink face, once they’ve left I pull out my phone, take a picture and send it to Niall, laughing at myself when I do.

_‘You are so lucky your adorable otherwise you’d be dead!’_

I send another text,

_‘Drinks at my place tomorrow? I promise I won’t draw on your face…’_


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the poorly written smut....

I’m round Zayn’s the next night having a few beers and watching whatever crap is on TV. Right now, we’re watching some crappy romantic comedy and interjecting our opinions every so often causing us to laugh. One scene is the worst thing I’ve ever seen, but Zayn seems to be enjoying it although I doubt he would admit it,

“You know, these movies always use the same shitty music but at different speeds and tempo’s. It’s like when someone’s falling in love it always sounds light and angelic and when they kiss it’s the same but the music swells a bit more. It’s cheesy and sad if you ask me…”

“Niall, shhh! I’m watching this…”

I look back at the screen to see the guy running around town trying to find the girl he broke up with not only 5 minutes ago and once again Zayn’s interested in this, I can tell by the way his eyes light up sometimes mouthing the words, he looks over at me and smiles quite sheepishly,

“What? It’s not my fault I’m a sucker for romantic comedies…you know I wish my life was like a romantic comedy. I wish I could find my prince charming and kiss him after I pour my heart and soul out to him…what?”

“Nothing, it’s just these movies bug me. They always make you think that your prince charming is out there for you and he’s going to come and sweep you off your feet but that is never going to happen! Another thing that pisses me off is the fact that they always use a well-known song at the end of a movie that has nothing to do with what the song is saying!”

“Have you ever realised that they actually never make movies that talk about the aftermath of what happens when a guy says he loves someone…”

“Zayn, that my friend…is called porn”

“You know what Niall say what you want about these movies but every time I watch them I think about how much I miss sex…you know? Especially if you’re like me and haven’t had it in 6 months”

“I know but it always comes with a lot of complications like emotions and guilt mainly”

“Tell me about it mate, although many men would say it’s because of women but I can’t use that excuse, I’ve never actually been with a woman, I’ve only ever kissed one and I was 13.”

“Though us guys are the same…”

“What do you mean Niall?”

“I mean guys do that sometimes too…’oh yeah baby, right there, don’t stop, I’m gonna come, that’s it take it, take me deep and when they come they always ask if you did too and it’s always no, no I did not, cause I never got to have my dick sucked”

Zayn bursts out laughing at me, “Who the fuck have you been with mate? They sound horrible!”

“Shut up mate okay! It’s not my fault I pick the wrong guys to sleep with...”

“Hey, I’ve been with my fair share of guys like that…although I don’t know why your complaining, sex is only physical…it’s like a game of tennis if you want to put it in sports terms. Like, you have sex and then basically shake hands and the go home and get on with life”

“Mm, your right…Zayn? Did you want another beer?”

“Yes please, thanks”

I quickly walk into the kitchen and grab another couple of beers from the fridge when Zayn speak up from the living room,

“Hey, Niall? Wanna play a round of tennis?”

“Zayn, what are you talking about? It’s way too late to play a game now…”

Zayn raises his eyebrow and that’s when it finally registers in my head, “Oh, you mean?”

“Yeah, let’s have sex, it would be like playing a game of tennis”

“Zayn, no…don’t you remember what I said a few weeks ago? I don’t like you and then you told me you didn’t like me either”

“Niall, come on it could be the solution to our problems. Like I said before, I haven’t had sex in 6 months and you probably haven’t done it for a while either, it doesn’t matter if we don’t find each other attractive”

“I have been known to be attracted to the bad boy type…”

“Niall, you are adorable you know that right…bad boy type, yeah right”

“Don’t laugh at me…look if we didn’t meet and become friends what is it about me that you would find attractive and be honest with me…come on Zayn”

He looks me up and down before finally settling on the one thing everybody always says about me,

“I like your eyes, I’ve never seen eyes so blue and beautiful before, I’m being very serious here…now in the same scenario, what would you find attractive about me?”

I think for a couple of minutes, taking my time by looking him up and down slowly before I finally settle on one thing I’ve always found attractive about Zayn,

“Your mouth, I always thought it looked soft and kissable”

“Of course, I also think you have a nice body”

We start to list off other things we find attractive about each other,

“Your eyes”

“Your smile, and how bright it is…”

“I could say the same for you…also your eyes”

“Zayn, you’ve already said my eyes, think of something else…”

“I would but your eyes really are beautiful…I’m telling the truth”

I look down at the floor feeling quite embarrassed but Zayn lifts my chin up and looks me in the eyes before looking down at my lips and then back up to look in my eyes again,

“Okay then, what should we do?”

“Let’s try this out, how about we don’t have a relationship, there’s no emotions and it’s just sex…okay? You can say no if you want, we don’t have too”

“No, let’s do it. Doesn’t matter what goes on as long as we stay friends, deal?”

“Deal”

We quickly shake hands before staring at each other,

“I suppose we start now? Or we can wait if you want?”

“Let’s do it now…my bedroom?”

“How about the couch? It is closer to us…”

“Nah, the couch isn’t comfortable to lay on, we should really use my bedroom..”

“Fine, you were the one that suggested it…let’s go, lead the way”

I follow Zayn into the bedroom and he starts to undress as he list somethings he doesn’t like,

“A few things, I don’t like dirty talk and I don’t like people touching the back of my knees, if I knew this was going to happen I would have tidied my room up and I do not like to be called daddy”

“That seems fair, I don’t like it when guys call me baby during sex, it makes me feel weird, I don’t like feet or people touching my feet because it grosses me out and I don’t like being kissed on the left side of my neck. I also have bad knees so sometimes I can’t kneel on them for long periods of time”

I turn to face Zayn and he’s already undressed, I can’t stop myself from looking down as I take off my underwear. He’s looking at me to say that I’m ready,

“Mm I think I can work with all of this”

“Nice, I can work with this…”

“Good…let’s do this…”

Zayn stands there in front of me, just waiting for me to step forward so that is exactly what I do, he grabs my face and kisses me hard as I jump up and wrap my legs around his waist the both of us falling onto the bed and never breaking the kiss. I kiss down Zayn’s neck and continue to kiss the side of his neck, he moans,

“Should we actually be doing this? I mean, we’re in our twenties and this feels like something I would have done in uni, we should be settling down, shouldn’t we?”

“Zayn, just shut up, please…your mouth is very pretty but you should be putting in to good use…like maybe kissing me? do you have lube?”

“Oh shit, yeah sure, sorry. Uh it’s in the top drawer, right in the back corner.”

We go back to kissing as I start to grind down, Zayn thrusts his hips and wraps one leg around my left thigh, I pull away and lean over him on my hands,

“What do you want to do?”

“Don’t care Niall, just please do something, anything!”

I smirk before slipping under the covers and circling my finger around Zayn’s hole causing him to jump in surprise, pushing myself back up and looking at him again with a smirk he leans up and kisses me, nipping at my bottom lip when he flips us over and he starts attack my neck with his lips.

“Mm Zayn, please? Please do something”

I don’t pay any attention to what happens next because all I can think about is the feeling of Zayn’s mouth around my cock, I run my hands through his hair and I gently pull causing him to moan around me. I know I’m not going to last long but that’s only because it’s been a while since this has happened, I grab a fistful of sheet and twisting my hands in the sheets when I come. Zayn pulls off and kisses my cheek.

“Wow, that was amazing…you sure you haven’t done something like this in six months?”

Zayn laughs and looks over at me, laying there with his hands beside him. I feel like I need to repay him so I sit up and move towards the end of the bed and slipping under the covers again,

“Niall wh-what are you doing, you don’t need t-oh, fuck yes, god please don’t stop”

I can’t help but smirk at the sounds Zayn’s making. Luckily, I grabbed the lube from my bedside table before when we started kissing, I coat my fingers in lube and I push Zayn’s legs open a little bit enough for me to circle my finger around his hole once again,

“Relax, okay?”

“Niall, what are you doing? Oh fuck”

I slowly slip my finger in and Zayn spreads his legs even wider, I keep my finger there for a second before Zayn give me permission to start moving it in and out slowly adding another one when Zayn feels comfortable. I continue to do that for a little while longer when Zayn moans loudly and grabs my hair gently pulling it, I moan and before I know it Zayn’s coming. I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand before coming out from under the cover to kiss him on the forehead, the both of us breathing heavily.

 “Wow, that was something”

I laugh as I sit up and stretch, watching Zayn look at me from the corner of my eye

~~~~~

I left at 1:30 this morning and I haven’t spoken to Zayn since, I just hope nothing’s going to be awkward between us, I mean we said it wouldn’t but there’s apart of me that thinks it will.

“Niall, snap out of your trance and help me choose a story to write about for next month’s issue. I can’t decide who to pick!”

“What are our choices again?”

“We either have a story on Panic at The Disco front man Brendon Urie in his role in Kinky Boots or we have an article that doesn’t really matter”

“Let’s go with the Brendon Urie story, and we’ll title it ‘Can He Make Those High Heels Work?’”

Louis looks at me like I have two heads, maybe that idea sucks that’s why he looking at me like that. Kelly just walked past and did the same, she just looked at me like that,

“What?”

“Niall that was…genius! I like it, it involves a lyric from one of the songs and it totally works with the story, now I know why they wanted you here with us!”

“Uh thanks mate?”

“Don’t worry about it mate…also Zayn is in the lobby waiting for you, he said it’s something to do with your contract”

“Oh okay…do you think you can handle this for a bit?”

Louis nods his head, I wonder what’s up with my contract and why Zayn wants to see me now?

“Hey Niall?”

“Zayn, hey…whats up, Louis said it was something to do with my contract?”

“Uh no, I just wanted to talk to you, if that’s okay? Can we go for a walk?”

“Yeah let’s go”

We end up walking a few blocks before stopping,

“Niall about last night, I- “

“Iit was weird, right? I can’t be the only one of us that thought it was weird…”

Zayn looks relieved and I feel the same way too, it doesn’t feel as awkward as it was before,

“I know what you mean, it was a one night stand and you know what one night stands are like, you probably had a few, I have and I regret them all but not that one last night…what I mean is it was a one-time thing that will never ever happen again, ever…”

“Yeah, that’s true, I mean it was kind of stupid but it wasn’t the worst thing that could’ve happened between us…”

We get interrupted by a group of teenage girls, all of them giggling away over something or other. One of them steps forward and says something we never thought we would hear,

“Can I just say that you two make the cutest couple? Like really you are”

“Uh thanks” I smile politely while Zayn stand there looking at me like he’s going to say something but doesn’t and ends up grabbing my hand and taking me away from the group of girls. He doesn’t say anything for the entire time he’s holding my hand,

“Where are we going?”

“We’re going to mine so shut up and get in the elevator”

I’ve never seen this side to Zayn before and I kind of like it, the elevator comes to a stop and Zayn pulls me along and opens his door before he closes it and sits down in the chair and pulls me on top of him, kissing me as I sink down onto his lap and straddling his legs,

“Zayn, what the fuck are we doing?”

“What does it look like?”

He kisses me again and pulls my shirt off, his hand moving down towards my jeans so he can undo them, I do the same and lift his shirt up and I spot the heart tattoo on his hip, I didn’t notice that last night…weird,

“What?”

“Nothing, keep kissing my neck”

He does just that…


	7. Chapter 7

From that day on Zayn and I found ways to hook-up, whether or not it was in our lunch breaks at work or we were bored after a long day at work and needed to forget about all the things that were stressing us.

Just this week we’ve spent most of our afternoons together, the other night while watching the game, and whenever we were bored one Sunday. Every time it was in different places in his apartment, like the other night when I fucked him on the floor in the kitchen and he fucked me against the wall in the bathroom after not making it to his bedroom.

Like today, I’m just about to ride him on the edge of my bed when he needs to go and pee, he leaves me on the edge of the bed, goose bumps all over my skin,

“Zayn, what the fuck are you doing? Hurry up, I’m getting cold!”

“Shush, do you know how hard it is to pee with a hard-on? It’s annoying!”

“I do actually know what it’s like to pee with a hard-on! Have you tried sitting down on the toilet or do what Zac Efron did in that movie and lie on the toilet? Come on Zayn, I’m getting tired!”

He finally finishes and come backs back,

“Oi, did you wash your hands? Please wash your hands and then bring you ass back in here and let me ride you”

“Oi, don’t talk to me like that otherwise I won’t come back and you’ll have to find another way to get off”

I raise an eyebrow at him before he runs into the bathroom to wash his hands. He comes back and sit on the bed when I need to pee,

“Oh, come on!”

I laugh at him and wink before going to the bathroom and then washing my hands, I walk back in and I’m just about to ride Zayn when a voice rings through the flat,

“Oi Niall…where are you? I thought I would surprise you and whoa!”

I turn around to see Harry standing there in the door way with his hand over his eyes, no doubt taking a peek through his fingers at everything going on in the room. I quickly slip my shorts on and Zayn’s pulling up his underwear when Harry steps forward and touches his chest,

“Don’t worry I don’t know what’s happening and I can’t see any of you putting your underwear on, well hello, somebody’s been working out”

“Uh Harry? I’m behind you”

“Oh shit, you are…you have been working out”

“Not that I don’t love to see you, I do but what are you doing in London? Shouldn’t you be at home planning your wedding?”

“Turns out Lily isn’t the girl I thought she was…”

Zayn looks confused, “Lily is Harry’s fiancée”

“Oh” He nods even though he doesn’t know who she is.

“What happened then?

“Oh, wedding plans are off, we broke it off. Turns out the baby isn’t mine, it’s Kyle’s”

“Are you fucking serious…no way?!”

“Yeah, it’s all good though. I punched him and broke his nose so...”

I catch Zayn up, “Kyle is my ex-boyfriend” He nods and he looks like he’s happy that Harry punched him

“Ah well he deserved it…so you didn’t tell me you were seeing somebody over here in London, he’s hot”

Zayn blushes at that and runs his hand through his hair, looking between Harry and I.

“Harry, this is Zayn and Zayn this is Harry, he’s my best friend and ex- roommate from uni but we met in high school first. Zayn and I are just friends, aren’t we?”

Zayn nods, “Yeah we’re just friends”

“Oh is this one of those relationships then? It’s very uni, isn’t it?”

“Harry I love you but please leave and let Zayn get dressed, I will meet you in the kitchen in a second…sorry mate but you have to go, I suggest you move as fast as you can because sooner or later he’s going to be walking around the place half naked and you really don’t want to see that, trust me… I will talk to you tomorrow okay?”

“Yeah sure, I’ll text you if I’m around” he walks out the door, “It was nice to meet you Harry and you are already half naked like Niall said you would be...”

“Harry Styles! Not in front of my guests, bye Zayn!”

I love the kid but sometimes I think he was dropped on his head as a baby.

~~~~~

The next day Harry joins me at work which is the worst idea ever, here a tip, never introduce Louis to anybody, he will make sure he annoys every new person he meets but it’s lucky Harry can tolerate people like that. Just like children, Louis needs to take a little break otherwise he will be a pain in the ass for the rest of the day but luckily today was a half day for all of us at the office and Louis suggested having a kickabout in the park, so he would hopefully tire himself out.

I’ve been checking my phone every 10 minutes for the last hour hoping that Zayn has texted but he hasn’t yet,

“Oi Niall, get off your phone! Who is it your expecting to call you?”

“No one, just Zayn!”

“Is he the guy that helped you decide on whether or not to take the job?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Nothing, what’s happening between you two?”

“Nothing we’re friends who just happen to be messing around with each other”

Harry pipes up from the sidelines, “Louis, they’re fuck buddies or friends with benefits if you will!”

“Shut up Harry!”

“Really, but Niall you know that never works out in the end?”

“Louis right Niall, it never does! Somebody always falls in love in the end!”

Seriously, what has gotten into everybody today? Why is everybody being annoying? Liam’s the only sane one out of the three.

“Liam, help me out here!”

“I have to agree with the others on this one, these things never work out in the end. Just think about this whole thing you have with Zayn”

“Fine, I will. Shit, Harry we’ve got to go. Mums going to be skyping in any minute now and I don’t want to miss her again. See you two later!”

The guys may have a point but right now I don’t even care.

~~~~~

Later on in the evening after skyping with mum, Harry and I sit around and watch John Hughes movies and eat a load of junk food, it’s a thing we’ve done since we first met in our last year at school. We’re in the middle of The Breakfast Club when Harry pauses the movie and turns to face me,

“That was my favourite part!”

“You’ve seen this so many times, I need to talk to you”

“What about?”

“Nothing, I just want to say good job with Zayn, you know getting into a friends with benefits situation, I never thought I would see the day when that happened. I always thought you were all about soulmates and all that crap”

“Oh come on Harry, seriously, I’ve never been that guy, that’s you”

“Niall, come on…”

“Fine your right…I don’t know what changed, I guess it has something to do with my breakup with Kyle and the other guys before that.”

“Oh Niall, they really did mess you up”

“Yeah but I’m fine now…”

“I know you are…come on, lets finish this movie and then to finish off the night let’s watch Magic Mike to mix it up a bit”

“Sounds good”

Thank god I have Harry as a friend, he understands what’s happened with me, I could imagine what it would be like if it wasn’t for him


	8. Chapter 8

 Zayn and I spend the whole day together the day after the stuff with Harry happened, and surprisingly he’s okay with it, Zayn likes Harry, I mean who wouldn’t but he can be full on and some people don’t like that, I thought he would have stayed away from me after that. Silence has been filing the room for a while now, I can tell Zayn wants to talk to me about something,

“Hey Niall…can I talk to you about something?”

Finally he speaks, “Sure, what’s up?”

“I’ve been thinking and I want to start dating again, not that this isn’t great because it is but I want something more than being friends with benefits. I want to be able to go out with people that I have common interests with and find somebody I could settle down with…do you understand what I’m saying?”

“Yeah. I do, I’m the same. I was talking with Harry last night and I realised that maybe the reason I haven’t found somebody new is because I’m so worried about being hurt again like I was with the others”

“So, it’s decided we stop what we’re doing and find somebody to take out properly”

“Deal”

We high-five and get up to get dressed, this could be good for the both of us in the end and the good thing is we stayed friends throughout it all.

“I’m starving, want to come and get some lunch with me? I’ll help you look for your next boyfriend?”

“Why not? Louis doing most of the work today and I’ve got nothing better to do”

~~~~~

Walking round the park I can see a few people that would best be suited for Zayn but it’s all about what he wants and who’s his type,

“So…what’s your type? What do you look for in a person?”

“It’s not about looks Niall, it’s about the person on the inside that counts…”

“Zayn, you’re an idiot…but seriously why is your type?”

“Ah I’m a sucker for blue eyes and blondes or brunettes…”

“Okay, what about him? Go talk to him!”

I watch as he walks away to go talk to the guy standing over by the fountain, they look deep in a conversation, shaking hands but Zayn comes back with nothing,

“What happened mate?”

“His name is Francis, he’s French and he’s engaged…his fiancée is right over there and she looks lovely”

“Oh, I’m sorry mate, really am”

“Ah it’s fine, seeing as I came back empty handed it’s your turn, see if you can get…that guys number, the one over by the tree, reading a book”

“Okay, 20 pounds I get his number…”

“Your got yourself a deal Mr Horan, off you go”

Why did I bet money on this? I know I’m going to fail miserably. The talk is going well, I havents messed up yet, he looks quite interested in me and now that I’ve spoken to him and gotten his number. I walk back to Zayn and he smiles in anticipation of my news,

“His name is Jason, he’s 27 and he’s a doctor and works in the paediatric cancer ward in the hospital.”

“And?”

“And…I’ve got his number and we’ve scheduled a date for Friday night. I win, pay up Malik!”

“Ugh, I have no money for a drink now…screw you”

~~~~~

Over the next few days I prepare for the date and now it’s Friday night and I’ve just come back from my date with Jason and it was nice, nice enough that I’ve got another date lined up for next Friday. I come home to see Harry fast asleep on the couch, he’s obviously waited up for me but it didn’t work, I cover him up and head off the bed, happy from the nights events.

When I wake up in the morning, Harry’s there in my bed, with a coffee in his hand and he’s waiting for me to fill him about last night, the grin on his face gives it away,

“So, what happened last night tell me? did you kiss, was he any good?”

“Harry, it was really nice last night, he’s a great guy and we have some things in common. We spent most of the night talking about our work and all that stuff that would usually be boring but with him it wasn’t. Yes, we kissed, and it was on the cheek so nothing that would mean talking about how good he was”

“That’s great Niall, it’s nice to see you getting back out there…so do you have another date?”

“Yes, I do, I’m meeting him again on Friday after he finishes work”


	9. Chapter 9

It’s been a two weeks since I met Jason and it’s been 3 days since we called it off, turns out he only wanted one thing which is typical cause that always happens with people I date. Harry left a few days ago, but I promised him that I would be okay after everything that happened.

He left without saying anything and I ended up catching him coming out of my apartment building once I came back with coffees for the both of us, he then started to tell me that he had to go into work early and I knew that it was bullshit. He then told me the real reason why and he said that it’s because I’m not the kind of guy he usually date, what with me being emotionally unavailable.

Zayn’s been telling me that I need to forget about him and I should do something to take my mind of what he’s said. Lucky for me I’m going back home for a week so that should hopefully help me forget. An idea pops into my head, hoping that Zayn says yes,

“Hey, I’m going back home tomorrow, did you maybe want to come with me? You don’t have to but I thought it would be nice”

“Home as in home to…Ireland?”

“Yeah…”

“I don’t know, I don’t want to intrude on your time with your family…”

“Please Zayn? I want you to come back with me, I have a spare ticket now that Jason and I aren’t together and I know my mum would love to meet you”

“Fine, why not? Get away from the stress for a few days…oh before I forget, in the kitchen on the side there’s a bag, there’s something in there for you…saw it and I thought of you, I hope you like it”

“Oh nice, thanks mate!”

Since when does Zayn walk past shops and see things then think of me? I’m not complaining obviously, I just think it’s odd. I mean I do the same sometimes but I’ve never thought to buy him something, but then again, I don’t even know if he’s alright with gifts for no reason.

What the fuck?

“Zayn?! What the fuck is this?”

“Uh, do you not like it? I can just give it to someone else, I had a feeling you probably wouldn’t like it…I’m so stupid!”

“Zayn! I-I love it, I really do but you didn’t have to get this for me!”

“Hey, my bosses son owed me a massive favour after I helped him get a job working for a major music label and I knew you were a fan of Ed Sheeran, so I asked him if it was possible to get him to sign an album for you but he did me one better and was able to get Ed to sign a guitar”

“You really didn’t have to do this, really”

I go in for a hug and a kiss but I end up missing his cheek and going for the corner of his mouth, pulling away and look at him sheepishly,

“Uh, I’ve got to go but I will see you tomorrow? I’ll pick you up at 10:30? Flights at 12pm”

I don’t know why but I’m smiling all the way home and when I get home and meet Liam in the lobby he looks at me like I’ve got two heads but I ignore those looks as I walk into my flat and start packing completely forgetting that I left the guitar at Zayn’s…I’ll just have to grab it when we come back.

~~~~~

I didn’t even realise that it would take Zayn this long to get ready, I mean I didn’t even pay much attention to all of that when we were sleeping together but it’s still something I didn’t think about.

“Zayn? Hurry up! We’re going to be late!”

“I’m coming, let me just grab my phone and we can go”

I catch Zayn’s eye in the mirror when I stand up and stand in the doorway, blushing when he looks up at me,

“You done?”

“Yeah, let’s go.”

The airport isn’t as busy as I thought it would be so we get through everything quickly, I’m starting to get nervous right now and we’re not even on the plane yet. It’s been a while since I’ve seen my family in person and I’m afraid they’re going to think I’ve changed, I mean Harry seems to think I haven’t but he’s different than everybody else. I can’t stop shaking my leg and I know that I’m annoying Zayn but right now I couldn’t care less, they finally call our flight number and I stand up quickly feeling quite sick from it and the nerves but mostly the nerves.

“Niall, are you okay? did you need me to hold your hand, the planes about to take off and you look like your going to be sick…”

“It’s fine, really but thanks…I also want to say thank you, you know for coming with me”

“Hey, it’s okay, you don’t have to thank me. Anyway I wouldn’t mind seeing where you grew up and meeting your family”

“Yeah, you say that now but when you meet my family you’ll change your tune. They can be a bit full on sometimes, but they mean well”

“Don’t worry, I’ve met Harry and he’s quite full on…I think I can handle it”

I sit back in the chair and just wait for everything to be over.

~~~~~

We finally land and I have to wake Zayn up, which proves to be a little bit harder than I expected. It takes a few shakes and a gentle slap on the face to wake him up, but once he wakes he’s much easier to deal with. After waiting for a while to get our bags we finally step foot outside the airport and I feel like I can breathe a lot better,

“So, where to next?”

“We’ll catch a cab and we shouldn’t be too far away from home, roughly 25 minutes”

“Sounds good, let’s go”

I laugh at his excitement and grab the bags, loading them into the back of the cab and as we go along I watch as Zayn looks out the window watching the sights go by.

I look back over five minutes later and I can see Zayn asleep again with his head on the window and his knees up to his chest, it look like he’s a bit uncomfortable but I don’t want to disturb him, he looks peaceful and that makes me feel something inside but I quickly ignore it watching as we pull into the driveway, my brother and dads cars in the driveway.

I always thought I would be seeing mum first and then dad but I’m glad they’re all here. I shake Zayn awake again but this time he’s easier to wake up and I don’t have to slap him again,

“We’re here…welcome to my childhood home”

“This place is nice”

“Thanks mate”

I grab the bags from the cab when I hear the front door, turning around to see my mum standing in the doorway with a huge smile on her face,

“Niall!”

“Mum! Oh, my god, how are you?”

“I’m great, I’ve missed you love”

Zayn just stands there looking awkward, it’s best to introduce them before it gets any weirder

“Oh Zayn, this is my mum Maura, mum this is Zayn, he’s the guy that convinced me to take the job in London”

It feels weird to watch my ex-fuck buddy go to shake hands with my mum and she pulls him into a hug instead, he smiles sheepishly as my mum looks his up and down before smiling sweetly.

“So, let’s get you two inside before you get cold. Now, I’ve made up your bedroom Niall and Zayn I don’t know if you care where you sleep but I can make up the spare room for you if you feel that’s best”

“Uh, thanks Mrs Horan but you don’t have to, I can sleep on the couch”

“Don’t be silly, I’ll make up the spare room and please just call me Maura…now Niall, you dad and brother are outside so I suggest you go out there and say hi because I know they would love to see you”

“Okay, Zayn…you coming?”

He nods his head before dropping his bag on the floor and following me outside, my dad turns around and smiles widely,

“Ah Niall, you’re here, come here, I’ve missed you son”

I step forward and pull him in for a hug, my arms wrapping around him tightly,

“Missed you too dad, Greg…how are you?”

Greg watches me for a second before smiling at me and patting me on the back,

“Where’s Denise and Theo?”

“Ah couldn’t make it today mate, would love to have seen you though”

“Oh Zayn, Denise is Greg’s wife and Theo is my nephew…Oh Greg, dad? This Zayn, he’s the man that convince me to accept the job and Zayn, this is Greg, my brother and my dad Bobby”

They all shake hands and the same feeling goes through me when I see them shaking hands with Zayn, and them not knowing Zayn and I used to sleep together,

“So, Zayn I know that you and my son aren’t together because he wouldn’t have bought you home at all, he doesn’t really like his partners to meet us, he thinks we’re too full on”

“Ah, I don’t believe that for one bit”

“Well, Niall it’s nice to have you back, we’ve missed you…why don’t you go and take Zayn round the town, show him everything and don’t get into too much trouble”

“Uh, why not? Zayn, shall we?”

“Why not?”

“We’ll be back soon”

Smiling as we walk off, I can see Zayn looking at me out the corner of my eye, I turn to him and smile as we head off down the street. I show Zayn most of the places that I think he would enjoy seeing, most of the way round he seemed pretty interested as I told him stories from my childhood, many of the embarrassing ones I keep from him. I don’t want him to know any of those but he’ll probably find out soon when my mum does tell him.


	10. Chapter 10

I was right, as soon as we get back mum decides to steal Zayn away from me leaving me to stand there feeling nervous, not sure what she’s telling him but it can’t be good, I can hear the both of them laughing and it makes me feel a bit funny, hope she hasn’t been telling the really embarrassing one’s.

After dinner Greg decides to steal him away from me, heading outside the front and I can see them on the doorstep just chatting away. Mum’s been trying to get me to open up about what’s going on with Zayn and I, she’s convinced we’re together but hiding it and I keep trying to tell her we’re juts friends but she isn’t having it,

“You sure there’s nothing going on between you two?”

“Mum, I’ve told you! There is nothing going on between the both of us, we’re just friends”

“Okay, I won’t ask any more questions about it…now how’s your job?”

I start telling her about work and about Louis, Liam and London.

~~~~~

*Zayn POV*

Niall’s family are the nicest people I’ve met, I don’t know why he said they we’re full on, they’re actually really normal. For the last 15 minutes Greg’s been telling me some of the embarrassing stories about Niall that Maura didn’t get time to talk about, he’s managed to find a few photos many of them I would find really embarrassing if I was Niall, one photo catches my attention,

“Uh, what’s this one?” it’s a photo of him wearing a purple jacket and baggy trousers with his hair brushed to the side and a snapback placed backwards.

“Oh, Niall went through a stage in high school where he listened to some pretty embarrassing music”

“Oh yeah? Like who?”

“I don’t know if the hair gives it away…” giving the photo another look, it finally registers in my head.

“Is it who I think it is?”

“Yeah, he used to listen to Justin Bieber and probably still does”

“Oh my god! That’s very adorable…any other artist he used to listen to that would be classed as embarrassing or cheesy?”

“Yeah, The Backstreet Boys, N’SYNC and maybe a few other boybands…”

“Oh my god, I can’t believe I’m friends with an ex belieber and boyband fan…”

We have a quick laugh before things turn serious, Greg staring me down making me feel a little bit uncomfortable,

“Look Zayn, Niall’s my brother and I love him to bit’s but sometimes I can’t help but feel very overprotective over him. Now you probably know about his past relationships and how they didn’t work out very well, but I just want to tell you that if you two do end up becoming more than friends and you hurt him I will personally come to London and give you a piece of my mind and I may or may not have to hurt you”

“Don’t worry, I won’t hurt him I can promise you that”

“Good, that’s all I wanted to say mate. It’s getting quite cold, did you want to maybe head back inside?”

“Uh, yeah sure”

He helps me up off the floor and we head back inside and into the kitchen, Niall’s sitting on the kitchen side talking to Maura and I can feel my heart swelling up but I choose to ignore it focussing back on Niall,

“Oh Zayn, what’s up? Greg didn’t tell you too many embarrassing stories about me?

I keep the Bieber story to myself, laughing inside at the image in my head, “Nah, they weren’t too bad…”

He knows I’m lying but he obviously chooses to ignore it, “Uh, it’s getting late so I’m going to excuse myself and head to bed…Greg, it was nice to meet you and Bobby too, I’ll see you guys before I leave hopefully”

“Yeah, nice to meet you too mate”

I smile and head upstairs, “I’ll see you soon Niall?”

“Yeah, I’ll be up in a minute”

I get myself ready for bed and I make sure that everybody is gone to sleep or out of view before I go to check on Niall in his room.

I push the door open and I’m met with a shirtless Niall, making my mouth go dry. He turns round and flashes me his bright smile.

~~~~~

The afternoon went quite well which is good, I was so worried about earlier but when Zayn came back in from talking to Greg I felt a little bit better about everything. I say good night to everyone before heading up to my room and I’m just about to get ready for bed when I hear the door open, I turn around to see Zayn standing there, I smile and his face lights up,

“Niall?”

“Hey, you going to sleep yet?”

“No, not yet mate, come in”

I sit on the edge of the bed and motion for him to come forward and he sits on the bed. I decide to take a chance and lean in for a kiss when he pushes me away,

“Uh, not now…”

“Oh, uh I’m sorry I didn’t…”

“No, it’s fine really…but you just broke up with someone and your mum’s still awake”

“I don’t think she’d care but your right, I did just get dumped and I think right now I need someone to be there for me emotionally not physically”

“Okay, but wait…we’re now being emotional and not physical, but before it was the opposite?”

“Yeah that’s right…so”

“So, if you want someone to be there for you emotionally I can do that. Do you mind if I put some music on?”

“Uh sure…”

He grabs his phone out and I can see him go down his music list but he turns his phone away so I can’t see anything, I have no idea what he’s doing but when the song starts I feel my face getting hot and I hide my head in my hands,

“That’s more like it…”

“Uh Zayn? Why did you put Justin Bieber on?”

“Because a little birdy told me you used to be a Belieber and you probably still are”

“Ugh Greg told you, didn’t he? I knew he would say something about that, I’m going to hurt him when I see him next time!”

“He did, I never pegged you as the Bieber type?”

“Oh come on, I didn’t like him, I can’t even remember any of his old songs…” I smile before joining in with Bieber’s voice and I watch as Zayn’s face lights up when he watches me dance and sing along,

“Niall, stop please?”

“Fine, and just to let you know…the Bieber cut was a big fashion trend for guys in 2010 and 2011, everybody I knew had those haircuts and I bet you did too…”

“I don’t think I ever did”

“Yeah well I’m proud of that hairstyle okay? did you know my mates and I went to a Halloween party and I went as Bieber and then again the year after?”

“Oh my god! You serious?!”

“Yes, and looking back, I’m not exactly proud of me!” I jump on the bed and I start to gently punch him as the song finishes and ‘As Long as You Love Me’ starts playing quietly in the background

~~~~~

The next hour or so Zayn and I listen to some more music, and we’re now talking and he asks a question that I’ve never been able to answer properly,

“So, why do you never bring guys back here much? Greg told me you’ve had your heartbroken one too many times…is that why?”

“Uh, yeah I guess but also because none of my relationships last long”

“That sucks, I’m sorry you have such bad luck with guys…” He smiles at me before looking at the time on his phone, “So when Harry came to London to surprise you and he came in to see you straddling my lap completely naked, why did you throw yourself off me quickly?”

“Uh, it’s just something that’s never happened and I freaked out a little bit and because it’s Harry…I mean he is my best mate but sometimes he just makes a big deal out of things like that. Did he by any chance give you his number, cause that’s another thing he does…”

“Uh, he did but he said he was only doing it as a joke…don’t worry, I won’t use it…he’s straight anyway so it would matter would it really?”

“True…hey, have I told you that I’m glad I met you? because I really am”

“Ah, me too”

Zayn leans in to kiss me and I gladly kiss back as he wraps his arms around me, both of us falling back. Later on I can feel Zayn get off the bed and I hear him sneak out the room leaving me with a small smile on my face


	11. Chapter 11

I wake up the next morning to the sounds of laughter coming from the kitchen downstairs, the smell of pancakes wafting through the house and making my mouth water. After getting up and getting dressed I walk down the stairs the smell hitting my nose and making my stomach grumble, I round the corner to see mum and Zayn sitting at the table, having a conversation,

“Morning guys”

I look over at Zayn and I can see him smile over the top of his coffee cup,

“Ah morning love. Pancakes and coffee?”

“Sure, thanks mum”

“It’s no problem. Before I forget, today I have to go and do some jobs so I don’t know if you guys want to stay in all day or if you wanted to go out?”

“Uh, I reckon I’ll show Zayn the park seeing as we never went yesterday. You alright with that?”

“Sure, would be nice to see some other places you used to go to growing up”

“Alright it’s all settled! Oh and Niall, Harry said he will be round later this afternoon or evening and then he said he was going to take Zayn to the pub round the corner and show his how the Irish do it, I assume he means drinking…”

“Yeah, that should be good. Have a good day mum, love you”

She smiles as she grabs the car keys and heads out the door leaving us in complete silence, getting out the house should be good especially after what happened last night.

~~~~~

After spending most of the day at the park I don’t think going out for drinks tonight with Harry is the best idea but it would be good to show Zayn where I spent most of my teenage years before I started uni. We get back to the house and before I know it Harry’s jumping into Zayn’s arms nearly knocking the poor guy off his feet,

“Harry watch out!”

“Don’t worry Niall, I won’t mess up his pretty little face. Right, I’m giving you 10 minutes to get dressed for tonight and if you’re not done by then I’m dragging you out whether or not your dressed!”

I thought Harry was joking but he was actually serious, he drags me out while I’m getting a shirt out of the wardrobe. He drags me out into the cold meanwhile Zayn is fully dressed and ready to go,

“Harry, I hate you!”

He just laughs and throws a shirt at me before walking down the street with Zayn trailing behind, the both of them starting up a conversation about something that I don’t really care about.

 

“So…this is it!”

“It looks really cozy…”

“Zayn, we don’t have to be here if you don’t want to…I can always take you home?”

“Niall, it’s all good. Now, what are you having, my treat”

“Uh just a rum and coke mate for now, thanks”

He smiles before following Harry to the bar, I hear my name being called out and I turn around to come face to face with Lily, Harry’s ex.

“Oh my god, how are you?”

“I’m good, you?”

“Oh, not too bad considering you know…” she motions to the baby and then to Harry who’s watching the both of us intently, I wave to him to let him know it’s alright. “You know Niall, he misses you I mean they all do…even Kyle misses you.”

My face drops when she mentions his name, “Oh sorry, did I say too much? I’m sorry”

“Hey Lil, it’s okay really…should we sit down?”

“Yeah…so who is that your with? He seems nice”

“Oh, that’s Zayn, he’s a friend of mine from London. I thought I would bring him home to see Ireland”

“Oh, so nothing’s going on there?”

“No, he was actually the one that convinced me to take the job in London…”

“Oh that’s nice, how is the job going?”

I start talking to her about the job and how nice London is, about friends and I update her on my family and everything when Harry and Zayn come over with the drinks, Lily stands up to leave,

“Hey, you can stay you know Lily, it’s okay…”

“It’s fine, I’ve got to go anyway. It was nice to see you again Niall, Harry…”

Harry watches her go with a sad look on his face but turns around and smiles it off as he turns back towards us and starts talking about something when I see Kyle out the corner of my eye, he looks over at me and waves before turning back to his friend. I shake my head and look at Zayn, who seems to be watching me closely, I smile at him before having a drink.

~~~~~

It’s nearing 2 in the morning and we’re stumbling out of the bar, laughing and making sure we don’t fall over on the way home, right now Harry decides that it’s a good idea to start singing songs and providing his own guitar riffs and drum beats. He’s in the middle of singing ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ by Journey when Zayn starts to move in closer to me and he starts holding my hand as we’re drunkenly walking down the road.

Harry has now moved on from singing Journey and has now started singing ‘Mr Brightside’ by The Killers, Zayn joins in eventually and I follow but only because I like the song and it’s fun to sing when drunk. We’re just about to finish when the cops drive past and slow down in front of us, the worst thing comes to mind when one of the officers steps out and approaches us, Harry tries to reason with them,

“Look, we haven’t done anything wrong…it was the other group of guys that were behind us singing loudly”

The officer stares at Harry before laughing at him, causing Harry to look offended, “What are you laughing at? It isn’t funny!”

It take me a second to register what else is happening but the I realise I know who the cop is,

“James? Is that you?”

“Well, you do remember me? How’s it going Niall? I heard you moved to London and left us little people behind”

Harry finally catches up with what’s going on as he throws himself onto James and kissing him sloppily on the cheek.

“Styles, nice to see you again”

“Yeah, you too”

Zayn’s leaning on me and resting his head on my shoulder looking at what’s happening with wide, bleary eyes.

“So, I was told to come and stop you guys from singing loudly down the streets but I really don’t feel like doing that so how about you three get in the car and I’ll take you home. How about that?”

“Yes please mate!”

Harry runs to the car and gets in, I have to get James to help me carry Zayn and put him in the car seeing as he’s decided to fall asleep on me. the rest of the way home Harry continues to sing but a little bit more quietly than before and Zayn’s snoring quietly on my shoulder. Once we get to mine, it is almost impossible to keep the both of them quiet and to get up the stairs so I leave the both of them in the living room for mum to find, she would definitely love that.

~~~~~

Waking up to the sound of Harry and Zayn groaning next to me isn’t how I imagined waking up this morning, the both of them complaining about how much they hate drinking,

“Can you two please shut the fuck up!”

I can hear my mum yell from downstairs,

“Niall, language!”

“Sorry mum!”

The other two are still complaining so I slap them both resulting in them both whining something about abuse. I can’t deal with this anymore so I get out of bed and join mum in the kitchen, she’s sitting at the table with a cup of coffee,

“Ah, your awake. How was your night? Heard James ended up bringing you three home last night…”

“Yeah he did but he wouldn’t have if we didn’t decide to sing loudly when walking down the street”

She just nods her head as Zayn and Harry walk down looking like absolute shit, she ends up handing the two coffee in which they both drink it fast. Mum then comes back with some aspirin and they swallow those down pretty quickly.

“Okay you two, get your asses up those stairs and get dressed, we’re going out!”

“I would but I’ve got to go, Lily wants to meet up for coffee, said he wants to talk”

“Oh hope it goes okay Harry, keep me updated and I’ll speak to you later”

I pull him in for a quick hug before letting him go off.

“Come on Zayn, I want to show you one more place”

He groans but follows anyway,


	12. Chapter 12

I end up taking Zayn to the hill behind the houses, it takes him a while to get up but once he does he falls onto the grass, I join him and lie back and watch the clouds in the sky.

“This is where I used to come and think whenever things when got tough”

“It’s nice, I like the view”

He hits me with a question I honestly didn’t see coming,

“Hey Niall? are we alright? I mean, is everything okay between us even after what happened a few nights ago?”

“Yeah, we’re good mate”

“Good”

 We sit there and look up at the sky for a while in silence, my hand finds Zayn’s and we sit there for a while just holding hands. A sound comes from the bottom of the hill and I can see a camera crew down the bottom setting up for something but I have no idea what for. I jump up and I lose my footing and I find myself falling down the hill backwards, Zayn yell’s but I have no idea what he’s saying as I roll down the hill, Zayn’s figure fading.

I stop rolling and end up at the bottom of the hill just stopping at the feet of one of the cameramen. My face going red with embarrassment as Zayn runs down and sits next to me and starts laughing.

~~~~~

We get home in the afternoon and mum ambushes us pushing me down on the couch and turning on the T.V, I’m really confused right now but it all becomes clear when I see a story on the news about someone falling down a hill. That person is me and they captured everything on camera even the moment I stopped at the bottom of the hill and the moment Zayn kneeled down next to me.

Mum starts laughing at me and she rewinds it,

“Did you record it? Mum!”

“Oh be quiet! It’s hilarious, you are such a fecking idiot, you really are”

“Mum! Please stop, seriously!” I get up and walk outside into the garden, leaving Zayn in the living room as he rewinds the tape and calls the other’s back in London. Mum follows me and sits me down,

“Hey, Greg wanted me to ask you if you we’re okay with them flying to London sometime in the next few months to see you, he said Theo keeps asking when you’re coming back and if your not if he could come and see you”

“I should be alright with that, I may have to speak to Greg about it more but I don’t see nothing wrong with that”

“Good…so, you and Zayn?”

“What about us?”

“Nothing, it’s just I saw him coming out of your room in the early hours of the morning the other day and wondered if anything was happening or if something happened”

“How would you know what it looks like if someone may or may not have had sex? To be honest mum, I don’t want to talk about it right now…”

“Why?” She gives that look like she knows something, “Niall, are you and Zayn sleeping together? And don’t lie to me, I know what you look like when you lie”

“Yes, we are…or well we were…but I don’t know what’s wrong with that, I mean we don’t even like each other like that”

“You know what Niall? Why are you treating this like it’s nothing, there is something going on between you two and I know it means something”

“It doesn’t mean anything! I don’t like Zayn like that!”

“Why though?”

“Because he isn’t the type of guy I want! He’s damaged goods mum, and I don’t want someone that has intimacy issues!”

“Niall, if you don’t like him like that why did you two start sleeping together? Was it only supposed to be a physical relationship or what?”

“It was meant to be exactly that mum! I could never have something serous with him!”

“Why not? I’ve never seen you like this before and it’s worrying me, you never used to be like this with guys”

“Mum, he’s too messed up in the head for me!”

“Niall, look at me. You two are perfect for each other, I’ve seen you two together and I saw it when he first walked in this house”

“Look mum, I love you but can we not do this today, please?”

“Fine but only because I know how worked up you get and what happens”

I stomp off and up the stairs before throwing myself down on the bed

~~~~~

*Zayn POV*

When Niall walks off, I continue to rewind the tape as I call Louis and Liam to let them know about what happened this afternoon, I try them both but get their voicemails so I leave a message,

_‘Hey, it’s Zayn, don’t know if you remember me…I’m calling to let you guys know that Niall was on the T.V this afternoon, something happened and I thought you would like to see it. It will be on YouTube no doubt but if you can’t find it I’ll get Niall to send you the link later’_

I hang up and go into the kitchen when I hear my name, I walk over to the window to see Niall and Maura sitting down,

“Niall, are you and Zayn sleeping together? And don’t lie to me, I know what you look like when you lie”

“Yes, we are…or well we were…but I don’t know what’s wrong with that, I mean we don’t even like each other like that”

“You know what Niall? Why are you treating this like it’s nothing, there is something going on between you two and I know it means something”

“It doesn’t mean anything! I don’t like Zayn like that!”

Wow, that really hurt! Why do I feel like I’ve been stabbed? My eyes start to water a little bit,

“Why though?”

“Because he isn’t the type of guy I want! He’s damaged goods mum, and I don’t want someone that has intimacy issues!”

Didn’t realise he thought that about me…I feel like absolute shit right now…I don’t want to keep listening but I can’t stop,

“Niall, if you don’t like him like that why did you two start sleeping together? Was it only supposed to be a physical relationship or what?”

“It was meant to be exactly that mum! I could never have something serious with him!”

“Why not? I’ve never seen you like this before and it’s worrying me, you never used to be like this with guys”

“Mum, he’s too messed up in the head for me!”

Another blow, it hurts more than the comment before,

“Niall, look at me. You two are perfect for each other, I’ve seen you two together and I saw it when he first walked in this house”

“Look mum, I love you but can we not do this today, please?”

“Fine but only because I know how worked up you get and what happens”

Why would he say those things? I feel like my hearts been ripped out of my chest and someone’s stomped all over it…I quickly hide from Niall as he walks inside and storms up the stairs and shutting it loudly.

I sneak up the stairs and grab my suitcase and start packing, I know I’m not wanted here anymore. It hurts too much to stay, I get the next flight back to London.

~~~~~

Sitting at the table waiting to eat dinner, just waiting for Zayn, mum on the phone to Greg and talking to him about my 5 minutes of fame, Harry joined us just after my little talk with mum and he’s been teasing me all night, Zayn finally walk in but with his suitcase in his hand…that’s odd, I didn’t realise our flight was tonight. Mum gets off the phone,

“Oh Zayn, I thought you were going to join us?”

“Uh, not tonight Maura…unfortunately I’ve been called into work and I have to get the next flight out of here tonight”

What?

“Oh, that’s a shame love”

“Zayn, did you need me to drive you to the airport? I don’t mind, I can wait to eat…”

“No, you stay here but thanks for offering…I’ve called a cab and they should be here any minute now”

A honk sounds signalling the cab arriving, Zayn looks between us all,

“I want to thank you Maura for putting up with me, I really appreciate it. Harry, it was nice to see you again, maybe talk to you again next time you come to London. Uh say goodbye to your dad and brother for me, yeah? Tell them it was nice to meet them”

“That’s alright love, thank you for coming, it really was lovely to meet you. You know you can come back at any time?”

“Yeah, thanks”

I stand up and walk towards Zayn, I reach for his hand but he pulls it away quickly. I’m going to pretend that it didn’t hurt when he did that,

“Zayn? Ae you okay? You look sad, you sure you have to go?”

“Uh, yeah I’m fine…mate. Look I really have to go, I’m sorry to leave like this”

He walks away with a wave and my heart sinks, I chase him and stand in the door way watching him as he puts his stuff in the cab,

“Zayn!”

He looks up at me, doesn’t even blink and he just get it the cab without a single word. I feel my eyes start to water as I walk back inside, mum and Harry looking at me as I sit down and start to eat.


	13. Chapter 13

The next morning I send him a text,

‘Just texting to see if you got home safe’

It indicates that he’s read it but it doesn’t look like he’s going to respond.

I spend the next day with my dad and Greg cause I’m leaving tomorrow and I want to see them one more time before I go back to London and get back into my work. They don’t say anything about Zayn in case something inside me snaps or something, I know they want to but they just don’t.

~~~~~

*Zayn POV*

Once I get back to London and into my flat I turn my phone one to see a few texts, one from Louis laughing about the video, one from Liam saying the same thing, there’s one from work and another from Harry, there is one that catches my eye but I don’t reply I just read it.

It’s from Niall,

‘Just texting to see if you got home safe’

Over the next few days I dive into my work finding new people to convince them to take jobs. Niall calls on the Tuesday but I just let it go to voicemail, I don’t want to deal with it right now.

~~~~~

Once I get back to London the day after I go straight into work, Louis and Liam teasing me about the video. Louis pops his round his computer,

“Hey Ni, did you want to get some lunch with me? There’s this new sushi place I want to try…”

“Uh thanks mate but I’m going to stay here and finish this article”

“Okay suit yourself, I’ll bring you something back though”

I smile and get back into typing out the article for this month’s issue. I can’t focus for long so I end up calling Zayn, hoping he might pick up but he doesn’t, it goes to voicemail but I don’t say anything and I hang up.

I receive a text from Harry and it looks like he’s coming back to see me soon which should be good, and Greg should be coming soon with Theo so that’s two things to look forward too, I guess.


	14. Chapter 14

Three weeks go by and its work, work, work all the time. Some of it’s been good though, Louis and I were asked to fly to see All Time Low and write an article on them and then I got to go with Liam to see Bruno Mars and then was invited to go along to Little Mix with Liam, Louis and Sammy so it helped me take my mind off things.

Harry landed yesterday and we’ve done nothing but sit around and watch movies which has been alright so far, he’s been on his phone throughout the whole movie which is fine because I couldn’t care about the movie either, my phone buzzes on the table and its only Louis snapchatting me something.

“That Zayn? You guys speaking or what?”

“Nah, it’s Louis…Zayn’s been ignoring me so…”

“Ah okay” He goes back to his phone and I can hear him mutter something under his breath but just ignore it.

~~~~~

*Zayn POV*

I’m in the middle of sending paperwork off to some clients when I’m interrupted by a knock on the glass,

“Mr Malik, there is a Harry Styles here to see you?”

“Send him in, thanks”

I round the desk when Harry walks in, I go in for a hug but he just sits down and stares me down,

“What do you want Harry?”

“Why haven’t you answered Niall’s texts or calls?”

“Uh, I didn’t think he wanted to hear from me…that’s what it felt like in Ireland…”

“What do you mean? Zayn, he would never say anything bad about you, he likes you…”

“Yeah well it didn’t seem like it. I appreciate you coming to see me on behalf of Niall but you can tell him that if he wants to talk to me, all he needs to do is just that”

“Zayn…”

“Look Harry, I get that you’re his best friend but he needs to do it himself”

“You know what Zayn? I don’t think you know how much it hurts him when you don’t text back…it’s slowly breaking him…”

“Harry…”

“You know what? I’m not going to sit here and tell you what to do but I think you should at least talk to him about this…it was nice to see you again mate…just think about what I said…”

“Yeah, will do”

Harry gets up to leave waving as he steps out the door, I think about what he said and I have to at least talk to him, clear things up. I text Niall hoping that he replies,

_‘Hey, sorry about everything. Can we talk? Meet me on the roof?’_

~~~~~

I don’t even know why I agreed to meet Zayn…it’s not like I need to give him my time seeing as he never gave me any of his over the last few weeks, he’s already on the roof when I get there and my heart is racing, I get a good look at him before walking towards him,

“Zayn…”

“Niall, hey”

It’s silent for a minute, I take a deep breath and touch his shoulder,

“Zayn…why are you giving me the cold shoulder?”

“Niall, I’m not ignoring you okay, I’ve been really busy these last few weeks and I’ve had to deal with some other shit”

I know he’s lying to me, I mean why would he lie? “Is that really the reason?”

“Yes, I’m messed up and because I have intimacy issues…and I think you said I was damaged goods too? No wait, that is wah you said”

Shit! “Zayn, look at me okay? I didn’t mean those things okay, I was in a bad mood and mum just kept going on and on about you and I just wanted to get her off my back”

“Oh really? Are those the reasons why you said that stuff about me?”

“No, she was annoying me with all her questions, she thought we liked each other more than we we’re leading on…”

“Oh, well I like you, I thought we were friends…and I don’t know if you know about this but friends don’t talk shit about their friends behind their backs”

My heart beat fastens and I feel my hands getting sweaty and I feel like I’m going to be sick,

“Niall, I don’t even think you and I are really friends, I mean I think you were just hanging out with me so you could get into my bed, fuck me and then dump me! And if I remember correctly, you tried to come on to me when we we’re in Ireland!”

“I did, I know I did but…you ended up kissing me and pushing me back onto the bed before touching my dick! Also, I don’t know if you remember, you left me in the middle of the night, you just snuck out!”

“I left because I didn’t think that you would want to be cuddled, also I was the one that said that it was only going to be physical”

“Zayn, you could have stayed and cuddled with me that night, I wouldn’t have cared. Why did you suggest this bullshit then…huh?”

“You agreed with it Niall, you knew what we we’re getting into!”

“You know what Zayn, I don’t even know why I bothered with you! I know I agreed with you but I’m saying this to you now, it was a massive mistake!”

My voice starts to hurt, “Can I just say something? I think you are just like all the other guys I’ve been with!”

“Niall, I’m not even your boyfriend and your comparing me to your exes! We’re just friends, okay!”

I take a step back, those words hitting me like a freight train, “You know what Zayn! Fuck you okay!”

I walk away not looking back, my eyes feel sore as they fill up with tears, my heart is breaking after what just happened. Why did I have to take this fucking job? I should have just stayed in Ireland. I just need to go home, maybe talk to mum and cuddle with Harry, they’ll listen to me cry all night.

~~~~~

I was right, Harry sits there all night with me and listens to me cry, sometimes he’ll start crying for no reason whatsoever, the both of us drown our sadness in ice cream. My heart is still hurting but there’s nothing that ice cream can’t fix. Harry suggests things that I can do to keep my mind off Zayn but I have a different idea and I know Harry isn’t going to like it very much

~~~~~

*Zayn POV*

The fight with Niall is still fresh on my mind when I wake up and head into work today, my head is killing me and by lunch time I can’t do it anymore so I hide in the bathroom for an hour or two and I have a little bit of a cry, my phone goes off and it’s my boss calling.

“Hi Steve”

_“Ah Zayn, finally got a hold of you. Was wondering if you had heard the news?”_

“What news? I didn’t know of any news…”

_“Ah well it seems as if Niall has decided to resign and find another job.”_

“What? Why?”

_“He said that the job wasn’t right for him and it was becoming too much for him, he gave in his notice this morning and he’s moving away…”_

“Wait what? I didn’t know that, what made him do that?”

_“He didn’t say, all he said is he couldn’t do it anymore”_

“Oh uh okay, thanks for letting me know Steve. I’ll see if I can get a hold of him”

_“Bye Zayn”_

I hang up and put the phone down, my hand shaking. I scroll down the contact list and call Niall to see if what Steve said was true, it rings through and goes to voicemail,

_‘Hi, you’ve reached Niall, I’m a bit busy now but feel free to leave a message and I will get right back to you’_

Ugh, why won’t he answer? I call Louis next but his goes to voicemail too, I might just go to his work maybe that might be best. The walk to his office is not very far so I get here within 10 minutes, I walk in and look around for him but I can’t see him,

“Can I help you? Oh Zayn, didn’t realise that was you”

“Liam, hey. Do you know where I can find Niall, I need to talk to him it’s urgent”

“Uh, he’s gone to one last interview with Louis before he heads off…but I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to see him right now…”

“Liam, can I have the address of where he is? Please, I need to talk to him before he goes!”

“Fine, but don’t tell him I told you where he is okay?”

“Thanks mate, you’re a lifesaver!”

I kiss him on the cheek before running out and down the stairs going to the address Liam gave me. I just hope he talks to me…


	15. Chapter 15

Louis been giving me these looks all day and I can tell he’s feeling sorry for me, I try not to focus on anything sad, my last interview is today and I just want to make it a good one seeing as I won’t be doing it again, Louis messing about with the band and I’m sitting here texting Harry cause he wants an update on how it’s all going.

“Niall!”

“Zayn, hi. What are you doing here?”

“I sort of ask you the same thing…what are you doing? Why are you throwing away a great job and leaving?”

“I am Zayn!”

He grabs me by the wrist and pulls me away, I have to shout to Louis to let him know where I’m going and I can see him glaring at Zayn as he pulls me away,

“Zayn, what the fuck?”

“Why are you leaving? I thought you liked this job?”

“Zayn, I do but I can’t live in London anymore okay!? anyway why do you care?”

“Because I do Niall, I can’t have you making a big mistake!”

His face goes red and his eyes fill with tears,

“Zayn, you cant stop me from leaving…please just go? I don’t want to have to get Louis over here because he may or may not kill you”

He opens his mouth to say something but closes it before walking off, leaving me shaking where I stand. We finish off the interview and I head home to pack up the rest of my things, but it all get derailed when Greg shows up at the door with Theo and Harry’s trailing behind.

Greg takes one look at me before pulling me in for a hug and he starts muttering things in my ear but I can’t really hear them,

“Uh, what are you doing here? I’m coming home tomorrow…”

“No, you’re not. Harry cancelled your flight, he said you’d be okay with that cause we’re here…how are you? You alright? Do I have to hurt someone?”

“Greg, no it’s fine…it really is”

“Okay, I love you mate okay…”

“Yeah, I know”

I close the front door and join Harry and Theo on the floor, both laughing at something.

~~~~~

Theo's out so Greg’s putting him in the guest room while Harry and I sit on the balcony watching the night sky,

“You alright mate?”

“Yeah, thanks Harry”

Greg walks outside and Harry excuses himself as Greg sits down next to me, patting my leg,

“Niall? Do you want some brotherly advice?”

“Not really but you’re going to give it to me anyway”

“Stop being worried about getting hurt by guys, I haven’t had much heartbreak like you but I know a thing or two when it comes to worrying about getting hurt. I was the same as you when I started to like Denise okay? I was worried about getting hurt by her that I kept my feelings for her hidden for a while because I was afraid he wouldn’t have felt the same way but you know what…she did. I was the same before I proposed to her, I thought that she would say no and look what happened, she said yes”

“Really? I didn’t know that?”

“Yeah not many people did. But look Niall, it’s clear you like Zayn more than a friend and that’s okay and I know your worried he’s going to hurt you but he’s not like that, I’ve met the guy and when I spoke to him he seemed pretty into you if I must say. Have you thought that maybe he’s the guy that could change the way you feel about getting hurt?”

“I guess, I haven’t really thought of it that way…”

“Well maybe you should, look I’m not going to tell you what to do, you need to figure it out yourself…I’m going to go to sleep but please think about it, okay?”

“Sure, love you mate”

He pats me on the back and heads inside. I can see what Greg means and he’s right, maybe Zayn could be the one to change everything? I think about it as I head to bed, crawling in beside Harry, who’s taken up most of the space.

~~~~~

We all go out the next day and I show Greg and Theo around London, Harry taking over watching Theo as Greg and I get the coffees, I pull him to the side and tell him about last night,

“Hey…uh I thought about what you said and your right, I do like Zayn as in more than a friend and I don’t know what to do about anything. When we spoke the other day I told him to leave and I may have threatened him with my work mate if he didn’t leave straight away which now that I realise it, that may have been a bit of a dick move on my part”

“Okay, I don’t really know what to do next but if mum was here she would tell you to fix it before you lose him forever and I would have agreed with her. So, what are you going to do?”

I have no idea but I give Louis and Liam a call and see if they can think of something.


	16. Chapter 16

Louis and Liam eventually pick up their phones and I ask them to meet me at my place. They don’t really have any ideas which isn’t helpful but at least they came up with a few. Louis decides that he’s going to help me with the plan and Liam offers to stay here with Theo so Greg could come and help me with everything.

Louis calls Zayn and gets him to meet him at the Sky Gardens, luckily Louis knows a guy who works there and he said he could get us in there and for us to have an hour there, free of charge. Greg and Harry are standing behind me anxiously waiting for a text from Louis letting us know that they’re on their way up. Harry ended up getting everybody in the place to help us with this whole thing, usually this would be done for a wedding proposal but Harry suggested it and it seemed like a good idea, so we went along with it and I have to admit it’s a pretty good idea. I just don’t know how Zayn will take it,

We ended up bumping into the guy I saw busking on the street all those months ago when I first got to the city on the way here and asked him if he wanted to help and he said he would. My hands start to sweat and my heart beats fast when Harry gets the text from Louis,

“Hey Niall, you’ll be fine okay? He’ll say yes, I know he will. He loves you, I can tell”

“Thanks mate”

Harry gives the guy the song so he’s ready to start singing and playing when Zayn comes through with Louis. The elevator door opens and Zayn steps out when the busker starts to play Justin Bieber the whole place turning to look at Zayn standing at the end of the place, mouth open just a tiny and Louis standing next to him with a smug smile on his face and looking over at me and giving me a thumb up before walking round to meet Harry and Greg.

I start to walk forward and meet Zayn in the middle, my heart feeling like it’s going to explode any minute and my hands shaking by my side.

~~~~~

*Zayn POV*

I wake up feeling like shit knowing that Niall’s gone back home, my heart feels like it’s been ripped out of my chest, that’s how much it hurts. My phone’s buzzing on the bedside table and it’s getting quite annoying, hoping it stops but when ot does it starts to buzz again, I reach over and see an unknown number. I answer it and Louis voice speaks up,

_“Hey Zayn? You alright?”_

“Not to sound rude but what the fuck do you want?”

_“That was a little bit rude but I need to talk to you about something…would you be able to meet me at the Sky Gardens?”_

“Why?”

_“I’m having lunch with an artist I’m interviewing and I thought you might want to come and meet them?”_

“Uh why?”

_“They’re in the market for a new manager and I said that you have some connections in the music industry and they wanted to meet you…so can you come?”_

“Uh sure, what time?”

_“In about 20 minutes? Can you be ready and here by then?”_

“Yeah sure…see you then”

_“Thanks mate!”_

That was a bit odd, I don’t really question it as I get in the shower and dressed. I’m there in 20 minutes and I can see Louis standing outside waiting for me,

“Louis”

“Ah Zayn! You ready to go in?”

“Yeah, where’s the artist?”

“He’s inside, I said we’ll meet him in there. Let’s go?”

“Yeah, sure”

I’m a bit concerned about Louis at the moment, it was only yesterday he looked like he was going to kill me and now he’s happy to see me today. He’s been on his phone ever since we stepped foot in the elevator and it’s scaring me a little bit, the elevator stops and the doors open and I’m met with the busker from a few months ago playing the guitar. I recognise the song as Justin Bieber, I smile as I turn round the corner to see a group of people staring and Niall?

I didn’t know he was still here, I thought he already left for Ireland…my mouth hangs open a little bit as I start to walk towards Niall, we meet in the middle and I feel my heart beating fast and I find myself looking into his eyes and noticing how blue they are.

What is going on?


	17. Chapter 17

Zayn and I stand there for a while just looking at each other and I can tell he wants to say something but he stops himself,

“Hey”

“Hi…what is all of this?”

‘Well, I remember you telling me that you want to find your prince charming and kiss him after you pour out your heart and soul and I thought why not turn it around and have your prince charming kiss you after he pours his heart and soul out, hence this whole situation”

“Niall, what…”

I cut him off and hold his hand as I pour out my heart and soul,

“Ever since I moved here and we started hanging out I felt myself wanting to be with you every second of every day, telling you about my day and how annoying Louis was getting at work. I wanted to talk to you all the time because you were the only person that got me, and you would understand what I’m thinking and going through. When we sat there in my place talking about music, I realised how much we have in common, then there was the day you gave me that guitar signed by Ed Sheeran himself and I felt something different towards you. I realised that we we’re becoming quite close and I was harbouring a small crush on you, that’s also the reason I invited you home to Ireland with me.”

 “Niall…”

“I haven’t finished, sorry. Zayn, I just want to say that I’m sorry for everything I said that night in Ireland, I didn’t mean it okay? I was scared, scared of my feelings for you and when my mum bought up the two of us sleeping together I freaked out knowing that she was going to get me to explain everything about us. So that was when I told her I couldn’t be with you because you were messed up in the head and you had intimacy issues, I wanted her off my back and I also did it because that was when I realised I had started to get feelings for you and again it fucking scared me Zayn! It scared me so much, that when you wanted to talk to me that day on the roof and I told you it was a mistake us sleeping together with no emotions, I was doing it to convince myself that I wasn’t in love with you! I don’t care that you have intimacy issues or if you’re a bit damaged because I love you for you and I don’t think I’ll ever stop.

 “You what?”

“I said I’m in love with you, I love you and I want nothing more than to be friends with you again but I also want nothing more than for you to be my boyfriend…say something, please?”

I look around the room and I can see everybody looking at us, Zayn’s looking at me and thinking, I look behind me at Louis, Harry and Greg all with anxious looks on their faces waiting for Zayn to speak up, Zayn hooks his finger under my chin and lifts it up gently, looking into my eyes and butterflies flutter in my stomach,

“Niall Horan…you are a fucking idiot, I love you too”

“You what?”

“I said I love you and your right, I may be a bit damaged emotionally but if I remember correctly you said you were emotionally damaged too. I don’t care about that either and maybe that’s why we were able to be friends first”

I smile brightly as Zayn slowly leans in and our lips touch, I lean in more and kiss Zayn deeply as everybody around us cheers and claps, I can hear Louis and Harry in the background giggling away and I see Greg standing there with his phone up and mum and dad on Facetime, both smiling away and saying how happy they are for me. Louis got Liam up on his phone with Theo sitting next to Liam on the sofa and Liam smiling down the camera.

I pull away before kissing him deeply again and I jump up and wrap my legs around Zayn’s waist,

“What should we do now?”

“Either we can go on a date or we can go straight to my place and do something a bit more fun?”

“I think we should just go back to your place…”

Zayn drops me down before we sneak away from everyone and into the elevator where Zayn kisses me again. The elevator doors open and the other three walk in and stand in front of us, Zayn kisses me again when Harry turns around and makes a big scene,

“Oh my god guys! Can you please not do that when we’re in here”

“Harry’s right, stop!”

“Louis, shut up!”

“Babe he is right though, Greg’s in here too, I don’t think he wants to see me stick my tongue down your throat, he’s my brother”

The elevator doors open and the three of them walk out quickly as Zayn and I walk out behind them hand in hand and we both have big smiles on our faces.

~~~~~

If you asked me a year ago if a no emotion, just sex relationship was possible I would have said yes and if you asked me a couple of months ago I would have said the same thing but if you asked me now, my answer would be very different…


End file.
